This time last year, RACCA Australia published an article on the Federal Government announcing a review on the Renewable Energy Target (RET). The Federal Government will resume talks with the Opposition on the RET next month when parliament resumes.
The RET mandates that 20 percent of energy or 41,000 gigawatts comes from renewable energy sources by 2020. The Federal Government wants to reduce the figure to 27,000 gigawatts as the current RET figure represents 27 percent of energy use. The Australian Financial Review reports that discussions between the Federal Government and industry players have lead to 31,000 to 33,000 gigawatts being offered as the RET figure.
In December, Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced the formation of a special task force to set a post-2020 emissions reduction target. The task force will review its international emissions reductions targets and settings with the possibility of a new target being announced in the middle of this year and to be taken to the UN Climate Change Conference at the end of this year.